Chapter Twenty-One
The first thing Lex was aware of was an intense pounding in her head. Eyes still closed, she took stock of her body. An experimental move of her legs told her they were still there and not broken, but that they were bare, as she felt the scrape of sheets against her naked skin.
Moving up, Lex felt no pain in her stomach, but was surprised to find something constricting her left hand. Raising it to eye level, she slowly cracked her eyes open to find an I.V. taped to the back of her hand.
Dropping her arm back to the bed, Lex tried to take stock of her surroundings next, moaning in agony when the bright lights of the room pierced her brain.
"I see you're awake," said a voice Lex found familiar, but the identity of its owner remained elusive as she refused to open her eyes to another onslaught. "Unfortunately," she mumbled.
Lex heard the woman chuckle. "I'll give you something for the pain," she replied kindly.
Before Lex could argue, she felt a slight burning in her hand, followed closely by the consuming blackness of unconsciousness.
"It seems the UEO inadvertently discovered that the President of Macronesia had a rather large store of nuclear weapons, with the intent to sell them," Sean explained from his seat at the table. Dorion and Reuban sat on either side of him, Hudson, Bridger and Lucas were seated opposite them.
"That's been illegal for over twenty years," Lucas frowned.
"Exactly," Sean replied with a grim smile, "and that's how we got involved."
"You'll have to be a bit more specific than that, Sean," Bridger said incredulously.
Sean nodded. "As per usual, the UEO has no hard evidence. Suspicion isn't enough to grant them access to the area to collect evidence, and since we're dealing with nuclear weaponry, they couldn't risk starting a war by accusations."
"So the UEO asked you to sneak in and steal evidence," Hudson asked, scowling.
"More like covertly obtain proof of purchase and resale," Dorion replied, smiling slightly.
Bridger sighed. "So what went wrong?"
"Where do we begin?" The sarcasm in Dorion's voice was strong.
"Enough," Sean said, glaring at Dorion, who merely shrugged, leaning back in his seat. It was Reuban who answered.
"We entered the area, but our sub was heavily damaged by a very intricate laser system surrounding the island of Macronesia."
"Surveillance fuck up number one," Dorion muttered darkly. Sean gritted his teeth, saying nothing. Reuban continued.
"We had to abandon our ship since she was too badly damaged to ensure our successful escape from the are. We removed the escape pod and set the ship to self destruct as soon as we'd sent you our distress message."
Sean picked up the thread of the conversation. "While Reuban and I remained with the pod, Dorion and Lex entered the building, breaking into the president's office to retrieve the chip containing the data pertaining to the type and number of weapons, as well as the list of buyers."
"Were you able to get the chip?" Hudson asked Dorion.
"Of course," he replied cooly, pulling a small data chip from the breast pocket fo his borrowed UEO jumpsuit, and tossing it onto the table.
Lucas grabbed the chip. "I'll get to work on it."
"Won't do you any good," Dorion purred with a cat-like smile. "It's encrypted."
Lucas laughed dryly. "I've been hacking and decrypting since I was twelve."
Dorian laughed with an air of condescension. "Look at the information on the disk. Do you really think the president is going to allow anybody to hack into it?"
"Nothing is truly secure." Lucas' eyes regarded Dorion coldly, dislike and distrust evident on his angular face.
"Exactly." Reuban replied, tossing a warning glance towards Dorion. "That's why he had the chip fail-safed."
"Meaning what, exactly?" Bridger asked.
"Meaning that from the moment you put the chip in your computer, you have exactly twenty seconds to enter the safety code." Reuban replied calmly.
"And if you don't?" Hudson's eyebrow rose.
"The chip self destructs, and all the information on it is lost."
"See what I mean now?" Dorion asked Lucas who glared back at him.
"Please tell me you have the safety code?" Bridger asked.
"Hopefully," Dorion muttered.
"What the Hell is that supposed to mean?!" Hudson asked sharply, having lost patience with the vampire's attitude.
Dorion remained unfazed. "Meaning that the paper containing the code was lost in the explosion."
"And of course, it never occurred to you to look for it before you ran," Lucas said sarcastically.
Dorion fixed him with a cool glare, leaning across the table, his voice coming out in a feral growl when he spoke. "Since Hell had just opened its front door, I was a little more concerned with getting my injured partner to safety."
"Do you think we could save the pissing contest for another time?" Hudson said sharply. Both Dorion and Lucas backed down.
"What did you mean when you said you hopefully had the code?" Bridger said, casting Lucas a warning glance.
Dorion continued to glower at Lucas for a brief moment, before turning his attention to Bridger. "Lex looked at the code before we left the complex. If we're lucky, the explosion didn't knock it out of her memory into oblivion."
A disturbed silence fell in the room as the heavy weight of the situation settled itself squarely on everyone's hope.
The first thing Lex was aware of was an intense pounding in her head. Eyes still closed, she took stock of her body. An experimental move of her legs told her they were still there and not broken, but that they were bare, as she felt the scrape of sheets against her naked skin.
Moving up, Lex felt no pain in her stomach, but was surprised to find something constricting her left hand. Raising it to eye level, she slowly cracked her eyes open to find an I.V. taped to the back of her hand.
Dropping her arm back to the bed, Lex tried to take stock of her surroundings next, moaning in agony when the bright lights of the room pierced her brain.
"I see you're awake," said a voice Lex found familiar, but the identity of its owner remained elusive as she refused to open her eyes to another onslaught. "Unfortunately," she mumbled.
Lex heard the woman chuckle. "I'll give you something for the pain," she replied kindly.
Before Lex could argue, she felt a slight burning in her hand, followed closely by the consuming blackness of unconsciousness.
"It seems the UEO inadvertently discovered that the President of Macronesia had a rather large store of nuclear weapons, with the intent to sell them," Sean explained from his seat at the table. Dorion and Reuban sat on either side of him, Hudson, Bridger and Lucas were seated opposite them.
"That's been illegal for over twenty years," Lucas frowned.
"Exactly," Sean replied with a grim smile, "and that's how we got involved."
"You'll have to be a bit more specific than that, Sean," Bridger said incredulously.
Sean nodded. "As per usual, the UEO has no hard evidence. Suspicion isn't enough to grant them access to the area to collect evidence, and since we're dealing with nuclear weaponry, they couldn't risk starting a war by accusations."
"So the UEO asked you to sneak in and steal evidence," Hudson asked, scowling.
"More like covertly obtain proof of purchase and resale," Dorion replied, smiling slightly.
Bridger sighed. "So what went wrong?"
"Where do we begin?" The sarcasm in Dorion's voice was strong.
"Enough," Sean said, glaring at Dorion, who merely shrugged, leaning back in his seat. It was Reuban who answered.
"We entered the area, but our sub was heavily damaged by a very intricate laser system surrounding the island of Macronesia."
"Surveillance fuck up number one," Dorion muttered darkly. Sean gritted his teeth, saying nothing. Reuban continued.
"We had to abandon our ship since she was too badly damaged to ensure our successful escape from the are. We removed the escape pod and set the ship to self destruct as soon as we'd sent you our distress message."
Sean picked up the thread of the conversation. "While Reuban and I remained with the pod, Dorion and Lex entered the building, breaking into the president's office to retrieve the chip containing the data pertaining to the type and number of weapons, as well as the list of buyers."
"Were you able to get the chip?" Hudson asked Dorion.
"Of course," he replied cooly, pulling a small data chip from the breast pocket fo his borrowed UEO jumpsuit, and tossing it onto the table.
Lucas grabbed the chip. "I'll get to work on it."
"Won't do you any good," Dorion purred with a cat-like smile. "It's encrypted."
Lucas laughed dryly. "I've been hacking and decrypting since I was twelve."
Dorian laughed with an air of condescension. "Look at the information on the disk. Do you really think the president is going to allow anybody to hack into it?"
"Nothing is truly secure." Lucas' eyes regarded Dorion coldly, dislike and distrust evident on his angular face.
"Exactly." Reuban replied, tossing a warning glance towards Dorion. "That's why he had the chip fail-safed."
"Meaning what, exactly?" Bridger asked.
"Meaning that from the moment you put the chip in your computer, you have exactly twenty seconds to enter the safety code." Reuban replied calmly.
"And if you don't?" Hudson's eyebrow rose.
"The chip self destructs, and all the information on it is lost."
"See what I mean now?" Dorion asked Lucas who glared back at him.
"Please tell me you have the safety code?" Bridger asked.
"Hopefully," Dorion muttered.
"What the Hell is that supposed to mean?!" Hudson asked sharply, having lost patience with the vampire's attitude.
Dorion remained unfazed. "Meaning that the paper containing the code was lost in the explosion."
"And of course, it never occurred to you to look for it before you ran," Lucas said sarcastically.
Dorion fixed him with a cool glare, leaning across the table, his voice coming out in a feral growl when he spoke. "Since Hell had just opened its front door, I was a little more concerned with getting my injured partner to safety."
"Do you think we could save the pissing contest for another time?" Hudson said sharply. Both Dorion and Lucas backed down.
"What did you mean when you said you hopefully had the code?" Bridger said, casting Lucas a warning glance.
Dorion continued to glower at Lucas for a brief moment, before turning his attention to Bridger. "Lex looked at the code before we left the complex. If we're lucky, the explosion didn't knock it out of her memory into oblivion."
A disturbed silence fell in the room as the heavy weight of the situation settled itself squarely on everyone's hope.